A total of 63 North Korean defectors reached South Korea in the first half of 2026, the Unification Ministry said Thursday. In this February 2021 photo, visitors look at ribbons wishing for Korean Unification near the DMZ in Paju. File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
A total of 63 North Korean defectors entered South Korea for resettlement in the first half of the year, down nearly 35 percent from a year earlier, the unification ministry said Thursday.
The tally -- 59 women and four men -- brought the cumulative number of North Korean defectors in the South to 34,600, compared with 96 during the same period last year, according to the ministry.
An official at the ministry attributed the sharp drop to tightened controls along the North Korea-China border and restricted movement through third countries.
Defections had significantly slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic amid Pyongyang's strict border controls, before rebounding to 196, 236 and 224 in 2023, 2024 and 2025, respectively.
